<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>to the edge by omgpeachsnapple</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766211">to the edge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgpeachsnapple/pseuds/omgpeachsnapple'>omgpeachsnapple</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pretty Little Liars</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:34:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,591</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28766211</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/omgpeachsnapple/pseuds/omgpeachsnapple</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She is drifting off to sleep, Caleb notices.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Spaleb - Relationship, Spencer Hastings/Caleb Rivers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>to the edge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>know our places, for worth is wordless<br/>evanescent, this writing on the wall</p><p>yes, time circles endlessly<br/>the hands of fate trained ahead<br/>pointing to the edge<br/>all things change, drawn to the flame<br/>to rise from the ashes<br/>to begin</p><p>—<br/>to the edge, 2021<br/>—</p><p>She is drifting off to sleep, Caleb notices. Her eyes flutter closed for just a moment before opening wide and glancing at the television, though he notices her gaze doesn’t really focus completely. They are curled up on her couch, underneath a knitted blanket that does little to provide any warmth. Winter in D.C. is very, very cold.<br/>Finally, Spencer’s head lists to the side and she buries her face in his neck. He is a little alarmed at first, but mostly because of her reaction when she wakes up. Things had been so easy and comfortable with them since he had moved here a year ago, yet lately there seemed to be a few awkward silences. Something had shifted between them that neither were willing to admit.<br/>For now he appreciates the moment, his arm around her shoulders, gently pulling her closer to him. He listens to her soft, even breathing, the silly sitcom distant background noise.<br/>They stay this way for a long time and just when Caleb is debating whether to wake her up or gently maneuver her onto the couch, she lets out a soft cry. Then another, then a strangled scream, and Caleb cradles her face in his hands, kissing her forehead.<br/>“It’s okay, Spence. You’re okay.”<br/>She blinks, awake now, her dark eyes bleary and confused before she concentrates on him, squinting just a little. It truly is adorable but he quickly clamps down on the thought.<br/>“I — we —“ but she stops, shuddering as she suddenly leans into him. “I have the most awful dreams, Caleb.”<br/>He holds her, resting his cheek on top of her head. Of course she does. It was to be expected. She mentioned them before and he feels a surge of guilt knowing she has been dealing with them alone.<br/>He stays with her until she falls asleep again, in her own bed this time. He will only leave when she promises she will call if the nightmares came again.<br/>And she does call, as the days go on. They talk about Madrid or Europe or work and the absolute chaos of D.C. until she quietly tells him goodnight.<br/>One night, after a few weeks, he simply lays himself down next to her. She doesn’t look put out or nervous but relieved. And maybe also a little nervous.<br/>He drifts off without meaning to and when she begins to stir, he simply pulls her against him and she settles down at once.<br/>She seems pleased to see him in the morning, rising to make coffee as her alarm goes off.<br/>“Definitely easier than phone calls,” Caleb quips, yawning. She is biting her lip when she glances back at him, a flash of ... something (longing?) ... briefly dancing across her eyes. But the moment quickly passes as she breaks into a wide smile, a smile that makes his heart flutter.</p><p>He begins to stay more often and her sleep is easier. Weeks go by without incident but still he stays. Regardless of how late she works, she finds him sitting on her couch, grinning at her as those she is the most delightful sight. There is nothing sexual in their nights together and she knows he expects nothing from her, even though she can sometimes feel him in the mornings. She tells herself it’s because he is an adult male and it’s not necessarily because of her.</p><p>Once, he whispers her name in his sleep. It is a secret she keeps close to her heart.</p><p>The time comes for him to renew the lease on his apartment. He is sitting on her couch, debating somewhere closer, his tone thoughtful.<br/>“You could just move here with me,” Spencer suggests, the words spilling from her before she can catch them. They flutter across the room, like so many butterflies escaping their nets. He blinks, looking surprised, but not appalled or even horrified, as she had expected. She holds her breath, wanting it more than she dares to admit.<br/>“I guess I’m here more than not. And it’s closer to work,” he muses quietly.<br/>“I mean-“ she begins.<br/>“Let’s do it,” he says at the same time. They stare at each other before laughing in giddy relief.<br/>When he stands, his dark gaze is filled with such a fiery intensity that Spencer is, for the first time, unsure of what he is going to do. He crosses the room, holding her gaze all the way, and oh god how her heart hums when he takes her into his arms and holds her. She can hear his heartbeat, rapid and unsteady, her own just as uneven. She is used to his embrace by now but she will never tire of it. Here, she feels warm and safe and loved.</p><p>Spring turns to summer. The air feels heavy around them, a weighted blanket with too many beads in it. The nightmares are few and far between and though Caleb could have moved to the sofa long ago, he remains by Spencer’s side during the nights. She doesn’t have to ask, she never does. He simply knows, the way he has grown to know the many small quirks that make up Spencer Hastings. And she knows him too, wholly and completely, the two working in a silent, beautiful tandem with each other. There are no secrets between the two, nothing they cannot tell the other and the weightless relief of it all feels like flying.</p><p>Sometimes she will pause and catch him looking at her or he will catch her looking at him; they both know what it means but there is a unspoken line in the sand that has never been crossed. Maybe there is one secret, one truth they cannot tell, after all.</p><p>And then there had been this morning.<br/>Spencer’s legs are folded, a pillow in her lap and her head buried in her hands. It was a rare day off for her but Caleb was working. And that was perfect because she absolutely needed the day to think. And think.<br/>This morning, she had stumbled and he had caught her and his forehead was touching hers, his lips inches from her own and she yearned to cross that line, to break the barrier, to kiss him like she desperately wanted to.<br/>He had pulled away first, though he seemed somehow as if he had ... diminished somewhat. Just a little bit. And then he had gone to work with a gentle goodbye. Caleb, always so gentle.<br/>And now her mind whirls at a million miles an hour. She had known it would lead to this. She had known from the first time he slept in her bed. And she let it because she is tired of pretending that she doesn’t feel the lovely flush that surges through her when she sees Caleb. How anchored but free she feels with him. How the stress of the world melts away when he shoots a cheeky grin at her, gently tickling behind her knees.<br/>But there is still that line, that unspoken god damn barrier she wishes she could hurl into a wall.<br/>The sound of the door opening alarms her and wildly, she lifts the pillow from her lap but it’s Caleb, of course. He eyes the pillow in faint amusement before she tosses it weakly at him.<br/>It was only 10 in the morning. Too early for him to be back.<br/>“Are you okay?” she asks but she doesn’t trust herself to stand, so she remains seated.<br/>“No.” Caleb closes the door firmly behind him. He sets his messenger bag on top of a stool beside the breakfast bar, his cellphone still in his hand before he sets it on the coffee table in front of her. She can see the call log, see the name Hanna and her heart both drops into her stomach and leaps into her throat. It is a very uncomfortable feeling. He is giving her that intense, measuring gaze again, the one that feels as though he can see into the very shadows of her heart. She thinks maybe he can, because his lips quirk into a half-smile before he finally takes her hands in his. She lets him pull her to her feet, tilting her face up at him. And finally, finally, he is the one step over the line. Or maybe they both did, colliding together in a whirlwind. She isn’t sure but she doesn’t care because his lips are on hers and his fingers are running through her hair, down her back, holding her close, as if afraid she might disappear. She feels as though her whole body is alight, that she will burst into a shining blaze of confetti. He is whispering her name, over and over, as he kisses her cheeks, her nose, her neck. She thinks they both might crying a little too.<br/>The rest of the day is a blur of sheets and clothing haphazardly tossed everywhere, soft moans and murmured affirmations of love, the summer sun beaming through the apartment windows, the soft rays dancing across the room.<br/>“She didn’t sound the least bit surprised,” Caleb says at one point and Spencer laughs.<br/>And all the nights after, she finds, are fully, truly, devoid of nightmares.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>They were just so beautiful together. I’m still not over it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>